Katherine Johnson (born August 26, 1918) is an American physicist, space scientist and mathematician who contributed to the United States’ aeronautics and space programs with the early application of digital electronic computers at NASA. Known for accuracy in computerized celestial navigation, she calculated the trajectory for Project Mercury and the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon. In November 2015, President Barack Obama included Johnson on a list of 17 Americans to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for her pioneering example of African-American women in STEM. Obama also highlighted Johnson in his final State of the Union address on January 12, 2016.
Jesse James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, guerrilla, gang leader, bank robber, train robber and murderer from the state of Missouri. He was the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang, who were Confederate guerrillas or bushwhackers during the Civil War. They were accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers, including the Centralia Massacre. After the war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, they robbed banks, stagecoaches and trains. The James brothers were most active as members of their own gang from about 1866 until 1876. In 1882, Jesse James was killed by a member of his own gang who hoped to collect a reward. Already a celebrity when he was alive, James became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death.
Jane Addams was a pioneering American social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women’s suffrage and world peace. In an era when presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers of the Progressive Era. She campaigned for better social conditions and led investigations into child welfare, local public health and education. She introduced the idea of the settlement house to the United States, co-founding Hull House in 1889. In 1920, she co-founded the ACLU. In 1931, she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the U.S. Addams was born on September 6, 1860 and died on May 21, 1935.
Doug Martsch is an American singer and musician. He is best known for his distinctive vocals and guitar-playing style in the band Built to Spill. Martsch’s first band was Farm Days in the early 1980s. His second band was Treepeople, with whom he released three albums and two EPs. He has been the lead singer and guitarist of Built to Spill since 1992. Built to Spill has released released eight full-length albums, including this year’s Untethered Moon (2015). Martsch was born in Twin Falls, Idaho in September 1969.
Bernie Sanders is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from Vermont. He has announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Sanders is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history. A self-described democratic socialist, he favors policies similar to those of social democratic parties in Europe, particularly those of Scandinavia. Since his election to the Senate, Sanders has emerged as a leading progressive voice on issues like income inequality, climate change and campaign finance reform. He rose to national prominence on the heels of his 2010 filibuster of the proposed extension of the Bush-era tax rates for the wealthy. Sanders is also outspoken on civil liberties issues, and has been particularly critical of mass surveillance policies such as the Patriot Act. His presidential campaign was officially launched on May 26, 2015. Sanders was born on September 8, 1941.
I really like Bernie Sanders, which is unusual to say about a politician, and I have been enjoying watching his presidential campaign gain momentum. I also appreciated this enthusiastic headline from last week: “Why Bernie Sanders Will Become the Democratic Nominee and Defeat Any Republican in 2016.” I’d been hoping that Elizabeth Warren might be in the competitive position Sanders is currently enjoying versus Hillary Clinton, but I have no complaints. Sanders is great, and I agree with almost every principle of his political views. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a democratic socialist too, you know. Socialism without capitalism leads to communism, but capitalism without socialism leads to fascism. Sanders understands this important balance. And with Bernie’s wild, Doc Brown hair, I deem him suitable for my 888th character.
Ronaldo is a retired Brazilian footballer. Popularly dubbed “the phenomenon,” he is one of only three men to have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award three times or more, along with Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi. He also won the Ballon d’Or twice, in 1997 and 2002. At age 17, he was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup he received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament in helping Brazil reach the final. He won a second World Cup in 2002 where he scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. Having suffered a string of serious injuries throughout his career, Ronaldo retired from soccer in 2011. He was born on this day in 1976.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group Destiny’s Child, which disbanded in 2005. Beyoncé released her debut solo album in 2003 and has since released four additional studio albums. She also ventured into acting, with a Golden Globe-nominated performance in Dreamgirls (2006), and several starring roles including The Pink Panther (2006). In 2008, Beyoncé married Jay-Z and starred as blues singer Etta James in the 2008 musical biopic, Cadillac Records. Over her 16-year career, she has won 17 Grammy Awards and sold over 75 million records as a solo artist, plus 60 million with Destiny’s Child, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Beyoncé was born on this day in 1981.
Note: This 8-bit outfit is based on the getup Beyoncé wore for her Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance at the New Orleans Superdome on February 3, 2013. Here is a playable family-feud matchup: Beyoncé Knowles vs. Jay-Z.
David Fincher is an American film director, film producer and music video director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and his 2010 film The Social Network. Some of Fincher’s other films include Seven (1995), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). His most recent film is Gone Girl, a mystery-thriller scheduled for release on October 3, 2014. Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon in his teens, where he graduated from Ashland High School. He was born on this day in 1962.
Note: Fincher, with black stocking cap, is character #777 in honor of Se7en, one of the best movies of the mid-1990s.
Reggie Miller is a retired American professional basketball player and current NBA commentator. He played his entire 18-year NBA career with the Indiana Pacers (1987-2005). Miller was known for his precision three-point shooting, especially in pressure situations and most notably against the New York Knicks, for which he earned the nickname “Knick Killer.” When he retired, he held the record for most career three-point field goals made; he is currently second on the list behind Ray Allen. A five-time All-Star selection, Miller led the league in free throw accuracy five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The Pacers retired his No. 31 in 2006. Miller was born on this day in 1965.
I will never forget Miller’s eight points in 8.9 seconds in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals to defeat the Knicks and Patrick Ewing. I was watching that game on May 7, 1995 as a 16-year-old obsessed with basketball. Aside from Michael Jordan, most of my favorite players were three-point specialists, as that was often my role when I played team basketball. Another memorable Miller moment was his two-handed choke sign (and his infamous one-handed choke/nut grab taunt) directed at irritating Knicks fan Spike Lee during the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. Here are a couple of relevant matchups: Reggie Miller vs. Spike Lee and Reggie Miller vs. Patrick Ewing.
Greta Garbo was a Swedish film actress and an international star and icon during Hollywood’s silent and classic periods. Garbo was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an honorary one in 1954 for her “luminous and unforgettable screen performances.” She is best known for starring in Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936) and Ninotchka (1939). In 1941, she retired at the age of 35 after appearing in 28 films. Although she was offered many opportunities to return to the screen, she declined all of them. Instead, she lived a private life, shunning publicity. She was born on this day in 1905.
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913) and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921-1930). He is the only person to have served in both of these offices. Taft rode the coattails of fellow Republican Theodore Roosevelt to an easy victory in his 1908 bid for the presidency. In his only term, Taft’s domestic agenda emphasized trust-busting, civil service reform, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, improving the performance of the Postal Service and passage of the Sixteenth Amendment. Abroad, Taft sought to further the economic development of foreign nations through “Dollar Diplomacy,” and showed decisiveness and restraint in response to the Mexican Revolution. After leaving office, Taft pursued world peace through his self-founded League to Enforce Peace. After World War I, he was appointed Chief Justice of the United States and served in this capacity until shortly before his death in 1930. Taft was born on this day in 1857.
Note: The almost-6′ Taft is often remembered as being the most obese president. His weight peaked at 335-340 pounds toward the end of his presidency. The truth of the often-told story of Taft getting stuck in a White House bathtub is unclear. However, Taft did erect a sleeping porch on the roof of the White House. This is 8-bit U.S. president #19 of 43.
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range. Mercury was born in Zanzibar in East Africa and grew up there and in India until his mid-teens. He has been referred to as “Britain’s first Asian rock star” and is widely considered one of the greatest male singers of all time. Mercury died of bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS in 1991. He was born on this day 1946.
Jan Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his surreal stop-motion animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay and many others. His feature films include Alice (1988), Faust (1994), Conspirators of Pleasure (1996) and Little Otik (2000). Švankmajer was born on this day in 1934.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a French film director. His feature films include Delicatessen (1991), The City of Lost Children (1995), Amélie (2001) and A Very Long Engagement (2004). Jeunet often uses wide camera angles and elaborate camera movements, and makes extensive use of color grading in order to give his movies the desired (often fantastic) ambiance. He was born on this day in 1953.
I have drawn 8-bit Jean-Pierre Jeunet wearing “the third eye,” which is a mechanical monocle from The City of Lost Children. These steampunk-style devices are worn by the Cyclops, a cult of blind religious zealots who kidnap children so that an aging scientist may steal their dreams. The City of Lost Children is one of my three favorite films of all time (the others being Lost Highway and Chungking Express).
Jhonen Vasquez is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and music video director. He was born to Mexican parents, raised in San Jose and is perhaps best known for creating the Nickelodeon’s animated series Invader Zim. Zim is a naïve but psychotic alien who tries to conquer Earth, but is always thwarted in a humorous manner. Vasquez also created the comic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and its spin-offs, Squee! and I Feel Sick. Many of his creations are geometric in style and gothic in character. Vasquez was born on September 1, 1974.
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and the Tony Award for Best Actress. Bergman is best remembered for her starring roles in Casablanca (1942) and Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946). She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute. Bergman was born on this day in 1915 and died in 1982 on her 67th birthday.
James Harden is an American professional basketball shooting guard who plays for the NBA’s Houston Rockets. “The Bearded One” was a first-time NBA All-Star in 2013, his first season with the Rockets. Harden played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils, where he was named a consensus All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009. He was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012 and reached the 2012 NBA Finals. He won a gold medal on the U.S. national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In October 2012, Harden was traded to Houston and became the cornerstone of the Rockets franchise. He was born on this day in 1989.
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers. Case recorded and toured for several years as Neko Case & Her Boyfriends before performing solely under her name. I particularly enjoy her Fox Confessor Brings the Flood album. Also, she is hilarious on Twitter.
Note: This 8-bit black dress is what she wore for the epic cover of her 2009 album Middle Cyclone, in which she stood barefoot, with a sword, on the hood of her burgundy 1967 Mercury Cougar. In 2011, Case auctioned the car to support 826 National, a nonprofit organization helping children become better writers.
Ted Williams was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player who spent his entire 22-year career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox (1939-1942 and 1946-1960). Williams led the league in batting six times, won the American League MVP twice and won the Triple Crown twice. A 19-time All-Star, he had a career batting average of .344 with 521 home runs. Williams was the last player to bat over .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941).
Ken Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962), and counterculture figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. “I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a hippie,” Kesey said. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968) by Tom Wolfe tells the story of Kesey and his 1960s band of psychedelic drug-using Merry Pranksters. Kesey died of liver surgery complications on November 10, 2001.
At the time, it seemed ominous to me that the great Ken Kesey, an Oregon resident, died the weekend I moved to Oregon in 2001. As of today, I have lived in Oregon for exactly 11 years. I swear my presence didn’t kill him. Today is also the day that Heidi and I return home to Oregon after 40 days of backpacking and train-riding through 10 countries in Europe.
Bernie Sanders – No. 888
Bernie Sanders is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from Vermont. He has announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Sanders is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history. A self-described democratic socialist, he favors policies similar to those of social democratic parties in Europe, particularly those of Scandinavia. Since his election to the Senate, Sanders has emerged as a leading progressive voice on issues like income inequality, climate change and campaign finance reform. He rose to national prominence on the heels of his 2010 filibuster of the proposed extension of the Bush-era tax rates for the wealthy. Sanders is also outspoken on civil liberties issues, and has been particularly critical of mass surveillance policies such as the Patriot Act. His presidential campaign was officially launched on May 26, 2015. Sanders was born on September 8, 1941.
I really like Bernie Sanders, which is unusual to say about a politician, and I have been enjoying watching his presidential campaign gain momentum. I also appreciated this enthusiastic headline from last week: “Why Bernie Sanders Will Become the Democratic Nominee and Defeat Any Republican in 2016.” I’d been hoping that Elizabeth Warren might be in the competitive position Sanders is currently enjoying versus Hillary Clinton, but I have no complaints. Sanders is great, and I agree with almost every principle of his political views. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a democratic socialist too, you know. Socialism without capitalism leads to communism, but capitalism without socialism leads to fascism. Sanders understands this important balance. And with Bernie’s wild, Doc Brown hair, I deem him suitable for my 888th character.